Horizontal opener and cleaner



J. K. WHlTTlER ET AL HORIZONTAL OPENER AND CLEANER Aug. 9 1927.

Filed Sept. so. 1924 5 S eets-Sheet '1 Au :9 1927. g ,J. K. WHITTIER ET AL HORIZONTAL OPENER CLEANER Filed Sept.

59, 19,24 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNE Y.

Aug. 9 1927.

J. K. WHITTIER ET AL HORIZONTAL OPENER AND CLEANER Filed Sept. 0: 1924 s'sheets-sheet 3 Patented 9,1927.

JOHN WHITTIER, FELIX. uremia-MEN, Jenn mniimr CURLEY, on Iowa; MASSACHUSETTS,LASSIGNZQRS;,BY MEsnnnssienM m-s, so KITsIonfMAcHmE snow, A cone-anemones mAssAcHUsmcrs.

HORIZONTAL OBENE AND CLEANER.

Application filed September so, 1924. Serial No. 740,779. I

I The preliminary steps in the Workingof' cottoninto some finished form consist in opening the bales, removing the cotton therefrom, and actingon the compacted masses or wads of cotton'to open them and remove the dirt therefrom. That is, the cotton as it comes from the bales is in a highl'y com-. pressed condition and contains considerable quantities of sand, sticks, 1oarn and other ioreign materials which must be separatedtroni it. Usually it isnecessary to run;

7 the cotton through several machines designedto open the wads of cotton, loosen the fibre and work it into a fluffy condition while, at the same time, separating the dirt and toreign inateriaisfrom the cotton fibre.

Thepresent invention relates to machines of th isvgeneral type and is especially concerned with the so-cal'ied'horizont'al'type of cotton opener and cleaner." I I I I I I A, typical machine of this type includes a beater enclosed in a casinglinto which the cotton 'is usually conveyed by means eta current of air, a cylindrical screen encircling the beater, andafscrewflconveyer located under the screen arranged to receive the dirt that falls through the screen vand 'd'ischarge it from. the casing, In using machines. oi?v thistype, it frequentlyhappens that the dirt collects on the upper surface of; the screen- 'u-ntiL a considerable quantity has accumulated, and then such'anaccumulation: becomes loosened and falls nto the coniveyer in; a. mass'too large fonthe. conveyor to handle This resuIts-ilnjmnming the con- I veyeifl and necessitates the stopping -ofthe machine and the clearing ot the: j ainmed pa s, Y

It is one of the objects of this inyention, thereto-re, to I III I cleaning machine which,whi1e.haiv1ng the adwantages of thepresent machines, will not be: opento theob jectionjust described The invention is also directed to. the provision of ajmachine' of the horizontalltype f p which will be'economicalof power, will be reliable in operation, can be manufactured economically, andf wlii'clngenerally will be anirrnprovement upon the mach nes 0t thls type heretofore dQX lSGCL The invention inwolves-both a zrnachine oil-"103261 organization devise a cotton opening and and also novel detail-sof construction, in?

eluding particularly unique arrangein for discharging the dirt} from the casing tiai'ly air tight.

The nature of the invention will be read fly understood from thefoiiowingg,,descrip-' while still maintaining the casing substane ti-on when read'ii'r'connection with tlie-ac'coin' pzxnying drawings, and the novel" features pended. claims; s I In the drawings,

willbe particularlypointedout in theapbodying'gthe present invention Fig; 2 is a view,. part1y in'verticaifcross section and partlyin' side elevation, of ,the-

Fig. 3is a: diagrammatic View showing a common method of opening the machine-f h The HIEL'CT'ITQIGISIICWII includes beater com; prising a. horizontal drum 2 havingaj series of beater arms 3 projecting from its P eri jIi T sheet metal shell" secu'rt'ad, on cast nietafdruih have integral gudgeons' 0 which are supported in be I ed 111' the frame o't the' machine; .Thisjar rangeinent- 'per nits the beater lto rotate with Very 'littlefrictibn. '5Qis' secure-d .ery. Thi's; drum preferably consists tov the shaft o1" guclgeon'et sol-that t Lin-aye he belted to convenient source ofipower,

Enc'ir'cl ing the beaten-{21s cylindrical screen which i includes f a M perforated"screen '85: 'i pl'ate"GJse'cured't ftWQ 'annuiar ends or rings 7] and 8. The cr e is rotatiye'ly supported at one end by three rial-Is 1O'I I 1e; opposite end'jis similarly supported Ti s Cal 891866.11 may e rotatedeieee verysl'owlyw For the pnrfpose off dri no 12' mount d fast on e stasis (in; This. shaft is.v rota-ted. by a, gear ,14 :ISQ GHId thereto:- and driven by apinion lfioii'tliel h 16- The weswee ie? I 9o v y1'i dri-. I, the same a or t11'ea oppo1site direction tof the rota'tiionfo f i p i the heater 2. shown, it rotates in the same directionias thejbeat er;butfrevol s of the arms at the opposite ends of the" 7 also 1'? which is connected by a belt 18 to anmechanism for creatinga strong fiow of air other pulley 20 secured on the end of the gudgeon 4 Both the heater 2 and the screen 6 are en-.

closed in a sheet metal casing 21 which is provided with an inlet opening 22 at the i left hand end (Figs; 1 and 2) and an Outlet or discharge opening 23 at its opposite end. Preferably these openings project tangentiallywith reference to the path of rotation heater. 7 i v When this apparatus is in operatioin'lt' 1s connected to a blower or some equivalent through, the casing 21. Atypical arrange ment is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 3

. mwma the discharge outlet 23 is connected byfla' conduit with a condenser 24 which, n turn, is connected to the intake end of a blower .25; The blower thus creates a strong ,currentof airfthrough the cleaner casing 21 and "the condenser 24 and this. current of air' carries the cotton into and through the cleaner. Immediately after the cotton enters v the casing 21,it is struck bythe beater arms, which are revolving rap dly, and it; is vcarried in a more vor less spiral path 2 through Ithe screen6 and is finally ejected from the casing-through the outlet23. As it'moves through the screen, each individual mass of I cotton is struck many times by the beater farms, thusgfperf'orming' the double function .breakin up the'wads of cotton andloosening the bre and, atthe same time, beat- "ingthe-dirt out of the cotton. Most of this dirt passes through the perforations in the '.:screen 6 into the space betweenthe screen 7 and the casing 21. The dirt is prevented from accumulating in any su'sbtantial quantities '1. on" the screen,- however, by the fact i that thescreen isfrotated slowly; That is,

any, dirt which tends to pile up ongthescreen I is dumped practically as fast as it gathers "dueto the rotation of'the screen.

V if'The dirt separatedfrom the cotton' must be dischargedfrom the casing and a" belt conveyer 28,,is provided for this purpose.

It should be observed that the air pressure within thecasing is lower than that outside fin'gfa-t the'lowe'r side ofthe machine are in vfclinedtowardieach other so that they direct;

"the dirt on to theconveyer 28. The c011 veyerbelt is supported on two pulleys29 andBO, the latter pulley being secured toia I-shaft] 31 which carries a worm wheel 32 'meshingrwith a worm 33 secured on the driver shaft :16, above mentioned. TheQconc 'tveyerf also includes serles'of lugs which thecot-ton will fallcontinuously through the are secured transversely on the belt at regular intervals, each lug being faced with a strip of some yielding or resilient material such as rubber, leather, felt or the like. The casing of the machine comprises two semicylindrical sheet metal housings'3'7 and 38 respectively (Fig. 2),? the forrher'partially enclosing and being, concentric with. the pulleyv29, while the latter is located in a similar relationship to the pulley 30. These housings are so spaced from the conveyer that the yielding faces of the lugs 34 wipe against the inner surfaces of the housings, both at their ends and edges, as they travel around the pulleys 29 and 3O, the ends of the'facing strips 35 preferably'being substantially flush with or projecting V only very slightly beyond the opposite edges of the belt. The lugs are located so close 7 to eachother that at least two of them are always in contact with each ofthecasing members 37 and 38. This arrangement, therefore, effectually prevents the leakage of air past the ends of the conveyer, notwithstanding the fact that the conveyer is constantly inmotion.

' In order to further guard against lealrage of: air past the conveyer andiinto the casing, l a plate 40 (Fig; 2) is'located just under the upper reach of the conveyer belt and makes a tight joint at its'opposite edges with the side'plates of the casing, while it ex tends long'itudinally of the conveyer sub- 7 stantially from the point at which thebelt leaves the pulley 29 to the point at which it runs into engagement with the pulley 30.

It will now be'evident thatwhen the machine is in operation, the dirt removed from screen on tothe conveyer and be discharged by it from the casing; The yieldingly faced,

.lugs' are valuable vboth for-the purpose of preventing air leakage around :the conveyer i and also because they divide the conveyer,

in efi'ec into'pockets which hold the dirt and positively transfer it .to a point outside the casingg This pocket arrangement also prevents any substantialdisturbance of the dirt by currents of air while it is being discharged; t a v It willthus-be evidentthat the-present invention avoids anypossibilityof the-ma} i chinebeingystopped by accumulations vof dirt in the manner 'whichhas caused so much trouble in prior machines. chine of this inventionis, therefore, unusually reliable, and this, is of importance not only from the standpoint of the production of an individual machine, but also because the shutting down of a cotton'cleanr er necessarily stops production of the entire seriesv of machmes whlch depend on it.

While cotton has been above rgferredto as M s the fibrellwhich the machine is Particularly intendedi to handle, itisbbvious th tnth 1-30 The" mamachine is adapted to handle other fibres, cotton being simply the most common example.

walls of the housin It will also be observed that the machine is sturdy and substantial in construction,

can be manufactured economically and is so organized that it requires a minimum of care and attention.

W Vhile we have herein shown and described the best embodiment of our" invention that we have sofar devised, we do not desire to be limited to the exact details of the construction shown;

discharging it from the casing, said conveyer having yieldingly faced lugs spaced thereon and extending transversely. across the belt, and said casing having housingscooperating with said lugs to prevent any substantial leakage of air around the conveyer;

2; A cotton cleaning and opening machine comprising-"in combination, a casinghaving inlet and outlet openingsfor the entrance and discharge of the cotton, mechanism within said casing foracting on the cotton to separate the dirt therefrom, and a substantially horizontal belt conveyer travelling through a compartment in the bottom of said casing and arranged to receive the dirt so separated and discharge itfrom the casing,

said conveyer having yieldingly faced lugs spaced thereon and extending transversely across the belt, and said casing hav ng housings cooperating with said lugs to prevent any substantial leakage .of' air around the conveyer andv including a horizontal plate over which the upper reach of the belt travels and which connects the opposite side 3. A cotton cleaning and opening machine comprising, in combination, a substantially horizontal rotary beater, means for support- 7 ing said beater in its operative position, a rotary screen enc rchng'said beater, means co-operating with the peripher'yjof said,

screen to support it for rotation, mechanism for rotating sald screen, a caslng enclos ng said screen and heater, said cas ng having inlet and outlet openings at the opposite ends "thereof, ahorizontalbelt conveyer located at 6 the bottom of said casing andarranged'to receive the dirt which passes through the screen and todischarge it from the'f casing,

said conveyer having yieldingly faced lugs spaced thereon and extending transversely across the belt, and said casing havinghousings cooperating with said lugs and belt'to prevent any substantial leakage of air around the conveyer and into saidcasing. I

cotton cleaning and opening machinev comprising, in combination, acasing having inlet and outlet openings for the entrance and discharge of the cotton, mechanism Within said casing for acting on the cotton to separate the dirt therefrom, a substantially horizontal belt conveyer travelling through a compartment in the bottom of said casing "and arranged to receive the dirt so separated-and discharge it fromthe-casing, said conveyer having transverse lugs spaced therealong, pulleys su p ti saidrbelt and located closely adjacent to said casing, and housings connected with said casing and curved to around the portions of the conveyer travelllng around said pul-j; leys, said housings cooperating with the conveyer to'prevent'substantial leakage of air around the conveyor.

5. A cotton cleaning and opening machine I comprising, 111 combination, a rotary'beater,

.a rotary screen encircling said beater, mechanism for driving said screen and beater, a casing enclosing. said screen and beater,- means for creatinga current of air through said casing to carry'the cotton through the beater and easing, a continuously operating conveyor for d1scharg ngfrom the casing the dirt passed through said screen, inclined walls in said casing for directing the dirt into the. conveyor, and means cooperating with saidconveyor to prevent any substan I tial air leakage around the conveyor during- .11M

the discharge of the dirt. 6. A cotton cleaning and horizontal rotarybeater, means for 'supporu lng said beater lnflts operative;positio n,.a

cooperating with the periphery of: said said screen and beater,'said casing; having ..-inlet andoutlet openings at the opposite I ends thereof,means for creating a current of air through said casing to carry the, cotton through thebeater an'd casing, ,a hori zontal belt conveyor located'at thebottom of said casingand arranged to receivefdirt removed from the-cottonland to discharge such- :dirt from the casing, said'conveyor having I transverse lugs spaced therealong, and housings cooperating with; said 'lugs 7 to prevent any substantial air leakage around-the con-- veyor' during the discharge ofthe dirt;

In testimony whereof we have signed our I names to this specification.

JoHN K; mama: FELIX D. LANGE VIN.

opening machine comprising, in COlIlb1I1atlO11,'a substantially-- I rotary screen encircling said beater, means e screen to support it for rotation, mechanisnr for rotating said screen, a casing enclosing 11a ROBE-RT Sr R EY,

Certificate of Correction. Patent No. 1,638,649. Granted August 9, 1927, to

JOHN K. WHITTIER ET AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 4, for the Word heater read beater; and that the said Letters Patent should be read With this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 4th day of October, A. D. 1927.

[sum] M. J. MOORE,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

